


What A Lie

by Angryniall



Category: niall horan - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-01 07:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17863283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angryniall/pseuds/Angryniall
Summary: Exes turned Coworkers inspired by What a Time by Julia Michaels ft. Niall Horan





	1. Prologue

5 Years Ago

“Niall!” Penelope screamed as she was pulled through the park in the pouring rain. “Why did you bring me out here?”

“Come on, every single time we watch The Notebook, you fawn over Ryan Gosling kissing Rachel McAdams in the rain. Thought you’d want to recreate it.” Niall says, pulling his girlfriend of four years into him. He presses his forehead to hers, but notes the not-so-excited look on her face.

“Niall James Horan! It’s finals week, now is not a good time for us to get sick! You couldn’t choose to do this next week?” Penelope groans, her eyes growing dark with worry.

Her and Niall started dating their freshman year. At first, they were just casually hooking up. Neither one wanted to commit to something when they had always heard that college was about fun and no commitments. Since they went to a small college and they were both accounting students, they quickly realized they shared most of their classes together.

By the end of their first semester, they would spend almost every night together studying. And sometimes “studying.” They started to plan their classes so they would have most of them at the same time.

Now, they were on their last semester. All they had to do was pass their finals and they would be graduates. But of course, Niall chose now to fulfill her fantasy of kissing in the rain by pulling her through the quad.

“We’re already out here, babe. You can’t even give me a quick kiss?” Penelope sighs, but looks up at her boyfriend, who is framed only by the light posts and the lights radiating from the Johnson dorm windows.

Penelope leans up on her tiptoes to quickly brush her lips across Niall’s. “That good?” She huffs, trying to remain angry at him, even though she knows that never does her any good.

Niall raises his eyebrows at her and Penelope doesn’t stop him as he leans into her. His lips press desperately into hers as he grips her waist. The dress she’s wearing presses against her body due to the rain and Niall can feel every part of her skin that he’s memorized in their past four years of dating. Penelope runs her fingers through her boyfriend’s bright blonde, almost white hair that he insists on bleaching every single month.

“I would stay in the rain forever for you,” he mumbles, his mouth pressed against her ear.

Penelope pulls away and takes his hand as she leads him back to her dorm, “well hopefully you’ll also stay inside where it’s warm and dry for me.”

——-  
Present.

If you asked Penelope who the last person she expected to see walk into the tiny office of Houster Accountants LLC, she would probably jokingly say Jake Gyllenhaal, her celebrity crush.

However, when her ex-boyfriend, Niall Horan, walks into the conference room for the morning debriefing, she almost gasps. It’s been five years since he broke up with her immediately after graduation. His hair is dark, a far cry from the blonde she’s used to and he has a beard, but she would recognize him anywhere. She just never expected to see him again and certainly not at the place she’s worked for the past three years.

Niall’s just as shocked when he walks into his new place of employment and sees his ex. He should have expected this, the past five years have been a roller coaster for him. He was stuck at a shitty job because they were willing to sponsor his visa. The unemployment just dropped enough that he was finally able to get another offer and of course, it’s a place that his ex works.

The entire meeting, he can feel her eyes on the side of his head. Niall guesses this is just as much of a shock to her as it is to him. His eyes don’t meet hers until, at the end of the meeting, the CEO, Richard, introduces him as the new hire.

It’s been years since he seen her, but he can still identify the look in her eyes screaming at him that they need to talk. Once they’re released from the meeting, Penelope follows him to his desk. She whisper-yells at him, “what are you doing here?!”

Niall sighs, “I work here now… I promise I didn’t know you worked here when I applied or took the job.” That’s the truth. Penelope’s blocked him from all her social media and he didn’t think the one place in Chicago that he accepted a job offer from would be the place she worked.

“You have to quit,” she tells him, rather selfishly. “I can’t work with you here.”

Niall sighs, “I can’t quit… I just accepted the offer.” Penelope shrugs, knowing she can get around this, “well, there’s policy that coworkers shouldn’t have intimate interactions. I’ll just mention to Richard that we’re exes. I’ve worked here for three years, he’ll want to make sure I’m comfortable.”

Niall grabs her hand, causing her to jump back at the sensation of them touching for the first time in five years. “Please Pen. They’re sponsoring my visa. If I get fired, I could get deported.”

Penelope sighs, not sure what to do here. The last thing she wants is the ex who told her he loved her and wanted to be with her forever, just to dump her as soon as college ended working with her. But she also doesn’t want to completely ruin his fucking life. Or maybe she does, but she’s too kind to actually do it. She nods, “okay, fine. Just don’t talk to me, okay?”

Niall watches as she walks back to her cubicle, making sure he remembers where her desk is so he can try to never even walk past her if he can help it. The last thing he wants to do is be in the same position he was last week: working with an ex who makes work miserable for him.


	2. Chapter 2

First day jitters were bad enough, but realizing his ex worked at his new place of work was enough to make Niall anxious. He was worried all day that he would be off his game, mess something up completely, or make everyone hate him.

He remembers all the rules of an office: don’t cook fish in the microwave, fill up the coffee pot if you get the last cup, and talk to your coworkers in a whisper so you don’t disturb others. That seemed to be enough to make the guy at the desk next to him, Amos, like him enough to invite him to the bar tonight with a few other coworkers.

At the bar, Niall feels like he’s in his natural habitat. He grabs a Guinness and meets a few of the other people in the office, Ginger and Klein. “God, she’s always late isn’t she?” Ginger asks, checking her phone for the sixth time in as many minutes. “She knows I hate getting stuck with the boys and you guys added yet another guy! Now we’re outnumbered.” Ginger pouts.

Klein puts his hands up, “hey babe. Don’t blame me, Amos invited him!” He turns to Niall, “you seem cool, nothing against you. Just trying to convince Ginger to let me take her out for about a month now, gotta stay on her good side.”

Klein winks at Niall and then puts his arm around Ginger, which she immediately gets pushes herself out of. The two of them have been going around like this since they both started within a month of each other. Penelope had invited Klein out when he started since they sat right next to each other. Then when Ginger started, Penelope was glad for another female in the office and basically begged her to save her from being surrounded by men 24/7.

As soon as Klein met Ginger, he was hooked. He was already 3 shots in when she showed up and he swore he thought he saw an angel. Her red hair, which she dyed every time her roots started to show, had him hooked. He flirted with her every time they were out for almost a year. For him, it was always harmless, Ginger never seemed interested so he was fine with some drunk flirting now and again. Until the Christmas party where she shoved him in the closet and made his entire life in a night.

Ginger was drawn to Klein the first moment she saw him. She’s always had a thing for tall, dark men and Klein fills that role nicely. He’s 6’2 and African, originally from Ghana. But Ginger is a stickler for the rules and knows that there’s no dating allowed between coworkers. She knows that she’s at a disadvantage already, being a Pakistani woman in America. She doesn’t want to risk her job over a relationship she wasn’t sure she wanted.

Amos laughs as he comes back from the bar, carrying a margarita for him and one for Penelope when she arrives. The tall, white brunette sits on the chair at the end of the table. He knows Pen usually likes to sit in the booth and, since he invited Niall without asking her (or anyone, as Ginger pointed out to him as soon as they both arrived from the office), he thought it’d be best to take the lone chair. “Come on, Ginger. You know she always has to do her makeup.” He mocks Penelope’s voice, “oh my god Amos. What if I meet the man of my dreams tonight? I don’t want to be ugly during our first meeting.”

“I definitely do not sound like that!” Penelope says as she walks up behind him, finally arriving to the bar. She’s late, of course. She has no good excuse, except that she left the office later than she planned thanks to Frand’s, the client she’s currently working on, not sending her the requests she asked for until 4 PM. Of course, it could also do with the fact that it took her almost half an hour just to straighten her hair. She usually forgoes it in the mornings because she’d rather sleep, but she prefers her blonde hair straight when she goes out on her personal time. Plus, it’s not like she misses much. Amos always gets her her first drink, since he lost a bet three months ago.

It’s not until Penelope is about to slide into the booth that she notices Niall. “What’s he doing here?” She says, rather rudely.

“Amos invited him, without asking any of us,” Ginger defends herself. “Think he wants to fuck the new guy,” she whispers loud enough for them all to hear.

“Ginger! Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean that I want to fuck every new guy in the office!” He turns to Niall, “unless you’re down of course.”

Niall seems caught between Penelope and the people he met and was having a good time with right until she showed up. “Um, yeah. I sit next to Amos so he invited me out… platonically. Sorry, man. I’m definitely straight but I appreciate you trying.”

Penelope rolls her eyes, “thought we’d agree to get group approval before inviting someone out after Klein invited that blonde that got kicked out for feeling up the bartender and quit after Jason asked her to stop texting during work?” She sits next to Niall, hoping it’s not too awkward. The last thing she wants is it getting out that her ex is working for the company now. If they’re going to pretend they don’t know each other, they have to pretend to everyone.

Everyone laughs and starts talking about the numerous people that have been invited to, and then barred from, Margarita Mondays.

After each of them has two drinks, and Ginger finishes her third since she’s dealing with the infamous Olmsteads, do they say their goodbyes and head home.

“Mind if I walk you?” Penelope hears the thick, Irish accent and her body clams up. “I’m fine. I walk home every other day.”

She hears a sigh and then heavy breathing before she sees Niall jogging to catch up with her. “Come on, I just want to talk.”

She stops suddenly and glares at him. It takes Niall a second to realize she’s stopped and he sighs and makes his way back towards her as she tries to keep her voice under control. “Talk about what?!”

“About your friends.” He says, sighing and running his hand through his hair and along the back of his neck, an old nervous habit of his.

“What about them?” Penelope says, giving him no hint of emotion.

“Well… I liked them a lot. But I understand that they’re your friends first. I’m not here to infiltrate your life. If you want me to back off, I will.”

Penelope shrugs, “ok, cool. Thanks.” She starts walking again and Niall starts jogging to catch up with her again. “Pen, are you serious? Is that what you want?”

“Penelope,” she corrects him. “And no, Niall!” Her voice is raising as she turns on him, him hitting her straight in the chest. “What I want is to never have to see you again. But I can’t have that apparently. So I’ll settle with just seeing you around work. Not at Margarita Mondays or Tequila Tuesdays or Wine Wednesdays or Thirsty Thursdays or Thank fuck the week is over Fridays.”

Niall takes a step back, “Jesus you guys go out that often? How can you even afford to drink that much?”

Penelope laughs in spite of herself, “god, of course that’s what you pay attention to.” She crosses her arms and looks at the ground. “Ok, fine Niall. If this is what you want, fine. We can hang out all the time. At work, at the bar. If it’s that easy for you to pretend we’re not exes and have no history, then you can do whatever you want.”

Penelope tries hard to not let her face betray how upset she is. She never got a reason why he dumped her and now it seems like he’s not at all bothered by the fact that she’s here. Maybe she’s just dumb and her first love didn’t love her much at all.

Niall nods, not wanting to make her upset. But he moved out here years ago and today’s the first time he really felt a part of a group. He has no problem going out by himself. He would find people to talk to, but it never ends in a friendship or seeing them again. The only person he had was Kelly, his ex, who made his entire life hell when they ended. He sighs, “look, I promise, I’ll try to stay out of your way as much as possible. Come on, at least let me walk you the rest of the way home? Just to make sure you get in safe.”

Penelope sighs, “I’m home, Niall. This is where I live.” She bounds up the step of the apartment complex opening, nestled between a Chinese restaurant and a corner store. Niall watches as the door closes without her saying goodbye or even looking back at him, wondering how he could have ever been so dumb as to let her go in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

Penelope tries her hardest to ignore Niall, but it’s hard when he comes out with her friend group more nights than not. Ginger and Klein usually end up flirting most of the night, so Penelope is used to her and Amos joking about them just fucking already and getting drunk and doing dumb things.

 

Yet, once Niall comes in, he ends up hurdled in the corner with them. It’s hard for Penelope to ignore him when he’s right there and it’s almost impossible when she’s trying not to let her friends know that she has history with him.

 

As if that’s not bad enough, Penelope’s team finished their assignment on Wednesday. Thursday morning, she’s called into Richard’s office. She’s pretty sure that her team is just being assigned a new company to audit. Penelope is the lead, since she’s the senior member of the team.

 

“Hey Richard,” She smiles as she slides in her seat with her notepad, ready to take any notes she needs to get all the information she needs from Richard before his tee time. “Do we have another assignment.”

 

Richard doesn’t even look up from the papers he’s flipping through as he nods, “Yeah, we’re basically always behind.” He sighs as he leans back against his desk, “We actually have a new company, Placet. Based in Atlanta, your team is going to fly out Sunday night to meet them and get the information you need in the first couple days. Hopefully they’ll be easy and we can do most of the work here.”

 

Penelope nods as she takes notes, “So Marjorie will send us the basic information for them so we can get things started over the next few days?”

 

Richard waves her off, “Yeah, of course. Should be sending it soon.” Penelope writes down to remember to ask Marjorie. She normally has to anyway, but it makes it easier if she asks Richard first so he doesn’t think that she’s just going to his assistant for everything.

 

“Alright, thanks Richard. I’ll get the team started on this.” She gets up to leave and Richard holds his hand out, “Oh um, and the new guy is on your team.”

 

“Excuse me?” Penelope raises her voice out of shock as she turns around. “Why do we get stuck with the new guy?”

 

In her three years with the company, Penelope has never raised her voice. It shocks him as he asks, “Is that an issue? You’re the first team to finish and I’d rather he get started on a project from the start so he can see how we do things before we unleash him on his own.” He decides to throw a compliment at her, knowing that Penelope works better when she feels appreciated. “You’re one of the best auditors and you’ve been here the longest. I trust you to train him right.”

 

Penelope bites back her complaint of working with Niall. She knows that Richard doesn’t hand out compliments often and being a favorite of the CEO will help her as she moves up within the company. “Of course, I’ll let him know.”

 

She walks out of the office and heads straight over to where Niall’s sat. Niall has been mostly working on admin stuff his first few days here. So he’s shocked when someone comes up to him and even more shocked when it’s Penelope. He opens his mouth and she cuts him off, “You’re on my team. We’ll meet in Office #204 in 15 minutes to go over our assignment.”

 

Penelope leaves almost as soon as she comes and Niall can’t help but mutter a fuck under his breath. He can’t believe that he promised he’d be out of her way and he already got invited out with her friends and is now on her team at work.

 

“Hey cheer up. She’s a good leader,” Amos whispers to him as he leans over. He smiles, “Honestly the best one here, don’t tell Michael.”

 

Niall laughs and sighs, “Not her leadership skills I’m worried about.” He knows that him and Penelope agreed not to tell anyone about their past relationship, but he can’t help himself. “You can’t tell her I told you… but we actually used to date.”

 

Amos looks shocked, “Really? I can’t believe Penelope has ever dated anyone. She pushes all guys who hit on her away.”

 

Niall shrugs, trying not to show the little part of him that’s happy to hear that Penelope isn’t with someone else. He knows it’s been five years, but he can’t help but reminisce on the times they had together. “Yeah, back in college.”

 

“Oh, that’s all? College doesn’t count. Those are basically hoe years.” Amos shrugs and turns back to his computer, “She probably doesn’t even think about you.”

 

Niall decides not to explain himself and nods as he grabs his stuff and heads off to the conference room for the meeting. He’s the first one in the room, besides Penelope. As soon as he steps inside, he can feel the tension.

 

Niall picks one of the chairs furthest away from Penelope and moves his mouse around his computer for a few seconds. Finally he clears his throat, “Pen…”

 

Penelope’s head snaps up as her voice is cold and distant, “My name’s Penelope. Only my friends call me Pen.”

 

NIall nods and takes a deep breath, “Penelope… I’m sorry.” The short blonde at the other end of the table shakes her head, “I don’t want to talk about this.” She busys herself with getting the stuff from Marjorie sent to the team and doesn’t hear any movement until the computer hits the table next to her. That’s when she realizes that Niall has moved directly next to her.

 

The heat from his body is almost suffocating. All Penelope can think about is the times where this distance would feel too far apart for them. The years they had spent in each other’s laps at every opportunity. At the time, the warmth from his body was welcoming and reminded her of home. Now, all it does is remind her that it’s over. Her voice comes out tinier than she anticipates as she asks, “What are you doing?”

 

“I’m sorry…” He says again, moving his hand towards hers. At that moment, the conference room door bursts open, causing them both to jump like they were high schoolers caught in their bedroom with the door closed. Their coworkers enter, either oblivious or ignoring the tension between the two.

 

Penelope clears her throat, trying to get her voice to return to normal before she starts explaining their assignment to her team. When she mentions them heading to Atlanta, she gets the reaction she anticipates whenever travel is involved. Josh, a new dad, groans. Since getting married almost a year ago, he hates traveling if he can’t get back by the end of the day. Pete and Corey are both pretty known partiers. They high five at getting to travel to someplace new. Jared likes to travel and go to new places, but he’s been to Atlanta before. So he’s not excited, but he’s not dreading it as much as Josh either. The only person who Penelope can’t gauge their reaction is Niall and she tries her best to avoid his eyes or read into him at all.

 

“Well, that’s all for our meeting. I’ve sent you all Marjorie’s report. You know what parts to get started on.” Their team has remained steady for about 6 months now, so they’ve gotten into a good rhythm and everyone is able to work on what they enjoy the most. Except… Penelope tries her best to remain professional as she turns to Niall, “You’ll work with me for the time being. Just until we figure out where you can fit on the team.”

The men all head back to their desks and Penelope sighs, “I’m only doing this because it’s my job.” She grabs her computer and walks off to her desk. Niall sighs and grabs his stuff quickly and follows her. He pulls a chair into her cubicle and they have to sit ridiculously close. Penelope puts her password into the accounting program wrong twice as she’s distracted by how close Niall is.

 

“Pen…” Niall starts and she glares at him and he clears his throat, “elope.” He finishes, trying to get used to calling her by her full name. “If you’d rather just give me items to do, I can go back to my desk.” He doesn’t want her to struggle because he’s here.

 

Penelope sighs, “Alright, what things did you do at your previous employer?” She can always throw him things he’s done before. Niall starts biting at his thumb nail, a nervous habit she remembers he had in college. “Well, I was actually more corporate accounting… This is my first audit assignment.”

 

“Of course.” Penelope mumbles under her breath. He wouldn’t know how to do any of the things she needs done in this setting. She was already going to trust him to not screw it up by the standards Richard expects, but she can’t do it if he’s also never done it at all. “It’ll be fine. I can just help you here.”

 

“Sorry,” Niall apologizes for what feels like the fifteenth time that day. He can’t help but feel that he’s encroaching on Penelope’s life in an unwanted way.

 

Penelope waves him off as she tries to get her mind back in place. She can’t believe it’s been five years since the last time she saw him, but he still has the same effect on her. Maybe if she ran into him out at the bar or on the street, she could ignore the familiar feelings rising up in her. But working alongside him every day is going to get tough, especially once she factors in seeing him out with her friends after she’s had some drinks. It makes her hate him even more that she isn’t able to be normal around him.


	4. Chapter 4

Penelope has always welcomed travel as part of her job. She loves to see and explore new places and she can’t hate getting paid to do it. This is the first time she’s dreaded a business trip, however, thanks to her new team member.

She doesn’t know what she did to end up in her own personal form of hell. Penelope is stuck seeing Niall almost the entire week. She thought seeing him getting on the plane on Sunday night in some gray sweatpants and an Elton John t-shirt, looking effortlessly put together, was bad. But seeing him come down to the hotel breakfast in a navy blue suit is torture.

At their office in Chicago, they’re allowed to be business casual, but when they’re meeting clients or traveling, they need to look professional. This was not something Penelope planned on being an issue. She’s not a young woman anymore, she can resist a hot guy. Yet she finds it almost impossible to keep her eyes off Niall the entire day.

After their day with the clients, the group goes out to dinner together. As the team leader, Penelope is in charge of the company card and uses it to cover everyone’s meals. After dinner, everyone can spread out and do whatever they want.

As if Niall can sense how much Penelope is struggling, he sits next to her at dinner. Her focus isn’t on the conversation-which has worked it’s way around to the client and how their system is completely outdated-but rather on the way Niall’s pants seem to pull on his thighs as he sits.

Dinner seems to go by agonizingly slow. Penelope is practically begging to get back to the hotel. Pete and Corey start talking about one of the clubs nearby and invite Jared and Niall with them.

Penelope wastes no time getting her and Josh out to the curb to wait for the Uber she ordered as soon as she signed the check. She knows Josh is probably aching to FaceTime his family and won’t question why she’s trying to rush.

As the car pulls up, she hears a familiar Irish voice, “Pen! Wait up. Can I ride back with you guys?”

“Penelope.” She corrects him. John gives them a look, he knows that the only people who can call her Pen are close to her. He realizes there’s got to be something between them if he feels comfortable calling her Pen. But he figures it’s not his issue and he just wants to get back to the hotel. “Yeah, yeah come on. Just get in.”

That’s how Penelope ends up crammed in a cab with her ex’s thigh burning a hole in her leg. If Josh weren’t here, she knows she would probably be unable to control her urge to make out with him.

Once they get back to their hotel, Penelope avoids Niall’s eyes as she heads to her room. She knows a little alone time will cure whatever it is that’s going on with her body.

As soon as the door to her room closes, she tosses her panties aside and pulls her dress up around her waist. She’s practically dripping from anticipation at this point. She starts running circles on her clit as she tries to think of Jake Gyllenhaal, but her thoughts keep coming back to Niall.

“Ugh!” She groans pulling her hand away from herself. She hates that he has this effect on her. She pushes her dress down and, before she can stop herself, is pounding on the door to Niall’s room.

It takes him about a minute to answer and when he does, he’s in just his suit pants. His blazer and shirt have been tossed off and Penelope’s eyes wander down his chest. He’s always been attractive, but he’s filled out nicely since the last time she’s seen him. His little patch of chest hair from college has grown to cover most of his chest.

Penelope’s eyes trail up to Niall’s, who is looking confused by her furiously knocking on his door. “I fucking hate you,” she tells him before pulling him down to meet her lips.

Niall wastes no time using one of his arms to hold up her ass as she wraps her legs around his body. Niall slams the door shut and carries her to the bed. He pulls her dress up and groans, “god, please tell me you don’t normally wear underwear.”

Penelope doesn’t have a chance to answer because suddenly his lips on hers, desperate for her. Niall doesn’t want to think too long about what is happening, so he undoes the zipper on his pants and pulls himself out. He doesn’t need much coaxing to be ready, so he pushes into her quickly.

Penelope gasps at the feeling of him inside of her and Niall pulls her legs around his body as he tries to go deeper. It’s not long before he finds the spot that he remembers would always get her off.

Their pace matches what it was in college, when they were hurried to finish before Harry, Niall’s roommate, would come home. For minutes, the only sound in the room is his skin against hers and the little gasps and moans coming from Penelope’s mouth.

Their movements are rough. Penelope has her nails dug into Niall’s back and with each thrust, they end up deeper, leaving red marks. Niall’s fingers grip her hips tightly, leaving small bruises as he pounds into her.

Niall presses his forehead against hers as he feels her legs start to spasm. They both finish close to each other. Niall falls next to her as his hand searches for hers. “Pen…” he smiles, feeling happier than he has in a long time.

In an instant, she pushes his emotions right back down. Penelope pulls her hand away from his as she corrects him, “Penelope.”

She stands up and pushes her dress down. “Um, I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.” She’s gone just as fast as she came into his room. Niall groans as he’s left with the empty bed next to him. Penelope is kicking herself as she heads back to her room. The last thing she needed was for that to happen. Her entire body is on fire from the places he touched her. She has to take a long, cold bath to try to get over the fact that she just gave in to the one guy who hurt her the most.

Penelope is ready to just forget it happened, but of course, Niall comes down to breakfast the next day in a blue suit with a subtle plaid pattern. Fuck, he’s definitely not going to make this easy on her.

The day goes by slowly and once again, Penelope finds herself unable to focus on work. Niall is oblivious to what’s happening in her mind, but his mind is completely occupied with the previous night’s activities.

The way she reacted afterwards let him know that she’s definitely not interested in starting anything real with him. He knows he shouldn’t expect, and probably shouldn’t even hope, for that after the way he dumped her so abruptly after college. But he can’t help himself, it’s hard to be around her and not fall right back in love with her.

After dinner, Niall’s practically pacing his room. Every time he hears even the smallest sound in the hallway, he’s running to check if it’s her.

Niall sits on the bed and sighs. He’s sure it was just a one time thing, but he can’t get the thought of them last night out of his head.

Finally, he hears a timid knock on his door. Where yesterday’s was bold and brazen, this one sounds scared. Niall opens the door to see her and before she can say anything, his lips are on hers and he’s pulling her tenderly to his chest as the door closes behind them.

He leads her to the bed and falls back on it so she can straddle him. Her hands trace the lines of his suit as she slowly undoes his buttons, one by one. Her hands explore cautiously on his chest.

Niall trains his eyes on hers, wanting there to be some connection, but hers are focused solely on his body. Her hands tangle in his chest hair before she groans and goes for his pants.

She barely has them off before her lips crash back into Niall’s. She pulls roughly on his hair as she climbs into his lap. Niall runs his hands up her thighs, along her waist, and brings her dress with them. It’s only when they have to break apart so he can get it off of her do they make eye contact. He can see the terror in her eyes and his lips connect with hers, softly this time, as he tries to show her that she has nothing to be scared of.

Suddenly, things slow down and Penelope takes in every movement of Niall’s fingers against her skin. She closes her eyes, enjoying the way it feels with his hand softly around her hips as he pushes himself into her.

Things between them are slow and needy. Niall lets Penelope take the reigns but slows her down whenever she starts to get eager. He wants her to realize that this isn’t just sex or getting off to him.

That’s what scares her the most. When they finish, Niall’s still catching his breath when Penelope gets up and grabs her dress. “Pen…” He starts, trying his hardest to get her to stay or talk to him or something.

“Penelope.” She corrects him and sighs as she tosses her dress back on. She’s out the door and Niall sighs, rubbing his hands against his eyes as he tries to wish her back next to him.

“That was the last time,” Penelope tells herself the entire night and the next morning. Except when Niall walks into the breakfast room in a dark purple suit with a navy shirt, she thinks, “well, once more can’t hurt.”

It’s like Niall’s deliberately trying to make things hard for her. All day, it’s hard for her to think of anything else. As much as she wants to, she knows that she can’t give in again. Going to his room at night is not doing anything for her.

So, when Corey starts talking about the club they’re going to that night over dinner, Penelope hops on it. “I’ve heard of that place, mind if i come with?”

Niall doesn’t know why she’s not going back to the hotel today, but he’s not going to let her run away from him. “Oh I’ll come too. It’ll be “lit” as the kids say.”

The boys all laugh and poke fun at Niall as they head to one of the clubs in the city. The place is packed, even for a Wednesday night. Penelope wants to find someone else, anyone to get her mind off of Niall, but she finds his arms wrapped around her body as he dances on her.

It’s hard for Penelope to resist, so she gives in, letting herself have fun with him for a night, at least. His purple pants seem to brighten under the lights and she’s aware that she’s dancing with the hottest guy in the room.

They dance, wrapped up in each other’s arms and bodies pressed together, for what feels like hours. Finally, Penelope has to pull away, “I need a drink. Be right back?”

Niall nods, although his eyes betray his fear that she won’t come back. Penelope heads to the bar and starts a tab for a drink. She turns around and starts to head back when she pauses. Where she left Niall is now a few girls, probably around college age, chatting him up. She knows she has no reason to be jealous, but she can’t help herself.

Niall’s eyes lock with hers and his smile falters as he can see the pain in her eyes. Penelope immediately turns around and keeps her hands steady against the bar. In no time, she feels large, familiar hands test on her hips. “Pen…”

“Penelope.” She snaps at him, “my name is Penelope.”

Niall sighs, giving in. “Penelope… they just came over to chat. I’m not-“ Penelope cuts him off, “no, we should have never done anything this week. It’s probably better if you go with them anyway.”

Niall shakes his head, but Penelope’s eyes remain focused straight ahead, not wanting to look at him. “I don’t want to go with them. I want to go with you.” She turns around when he says that and his eyes focus on hers as he moves in closer, “I only want you, Penelope.”

She nods, knowing that she’s giving in tonight as well. “Let me pay my tab and we can go.” He shakes his head and pulls out his card. “Ni-“ she starts, but he cuts her off. “Penelope, let me pay.”

He calls the bartender over and gets her drink paid for before they stumble out of the club into a taxi back to the hotel. For the first night, they don’t pretend that it’s not going to happen, they both head straight out of the elevators into Niall’s room together.

His lips are on hers as soon as the door to his room closes. He helps her onto the bed and makes quick work of getting her out of her clothes. His lips latch onto her neck, where he leaves small, warm kisses against her. His hand instinctively goes between her legs. He rubs small circles on her clit while he thrusts his fingers inside of her, trying to find the spot he knows she likes.

The entire time his fingers are in her, his eyes train on hers. He watches the way her eyes close in pleasure at each thrust and the way her mouth opens to let out moans. Before long, he can feel her body tense up.

“Ni, I’m gonna come,” she tells him, “you gotta stop, I want you inside me, not just your fingers.”

Niall shakes his head, his mouth forming a smirk in spite of himself, as he whispers in her ear, “tonight you get all of me.” He presses deeper on her clit until her eyes squeeze shut and he feels her body release onto his fingers.

He positions himself at the end of her body as he wipes her all over his cock, using her own cum as lubricant before entering her quickly. Penelope’s body is already sensitive from her first orgasm, so it doesn’t take long before she’s approaching her second. Niall’s eyes meet hers as he rolls his hips into her, wanting to give her enough to make up for their 5 year absence.

Niall finds himself losing control quickly after Penelope does. “Fuck.” He groans as he falls forward onto her. He places kisses along her shoulders as he rolls off of her.

After a few minutes of them both laying there, trying to find any energy, Penelope gets up and heads for her clothes. Niall grabs her hand, “Penelope. Please stay.”

Despite herself, she finds herself wanting to agree. She lays back in bed and her lips tenderly lock with Niall’s. Penelope wants to get lost in his lips and stay here forever, and that scares her. She pulls away suddenly and shakes her head, “this is just sex, Niall.” She’s not sure if she’s trying harder to convince him or herself as she throws on her clothes and quickly leaves.

By Thursday, Niall’s done with this charade. The have sex and pretend it’s nothing because she runs. He plans what he wants to do all day. After dinner, he doesn’t give her time to come to him. He heads straight to her room and knocks on her door.

When he enters, he kisses her roughly and tosses her on the bed. “It’s just sex, right?” He asks and she shakes her head, wanting to believe and not yet ready to admit that she’s been scared all day that this could be their final night together.

“Perfect,” he tells her and pulls his plaid beige pants off quickly. Niall grabs her hips and pulls her to the end of the bed as he roughly enters her, pulling her dress up around her hips while he wastes little time with pleasantries.

His thrusts are quick and he keeps his eyes on her body. He tries to will himself to view her as just anyone that he brought back for the night. When he can’t take trying to ignore her eyes, Niall slaps her ass, “turn around.” Penelope’s confused because he’s normally more gentle and not as bossy with her. He grabs her hips again and positions himself to give her what she wants.

He keeps his eyes trained on her ass, and only once she reaches her high does Niall let himself release inside of her. He pulls out immediately and goes to grab his pants.

“What are you—?” Penelope questions as he pushes himself into his pants and buttons them quickly. He shrugs, “it’s just sex.”

Niall lets his eyes meet hers and he sees the pain in them as he leaves. He knows what he did was messed up, but it’s the only way she can see how she’s hurt him the past few days.

The group has to check out of the hotel early on Friday. After their sessions with the client this morning, they’re heading straight to the airport to be home by the evening.

Penelope is ready to put the entire thing with Niall behind her. It was just a stupid business trip hookup. That is, until Niall comes down to breakfast in possibly the hottest thing he’s ever worn. He has lilac trousers and a navy shirt. Fuck, she’s doomed, she thinks as she watches him grab a quick breakfast.

Work is agonizingly slow, she can’t believe that Niall is walking around in pants that are so tight on him in just the right places. She’s sure he brought those just to fuck with her.

They leave for the airport around 2, so they can be back in Chicago by the evening. While waiting at their gate for boarding, Penelope decides she just needs a few moments away from Niall looking like that. She says she’s hungry so she’s gonna go grab a snack. The only issue is, Niall decides to come with her.

She can’t take it anymore. Niall’s walking beside her with his hands in the pockets of those stupid trousers. She sees a photo booth a few feet away and pushes him into it.

“Penelope?” He asks, confused why he was just shoved into a box. She shakes her head at him and digs around in her purse for cash. She has just enough to get them two strips of photos, but she really is just trying to buy time with him alone.

Penelope grabs his face and pulls him towards her. “I just needed another moment alone with you,” she tells him, being honest with him for the first time.

Niall sighs and runs his finger along her jaw. “Penelope… it’s not just sex for me. I hope you know that.”

She pulls away from him slowly and he can see the fear in her face. She bites her lip as she’s honest, “it’s not just sex for me either…” Penelope sighs and hops out of the photo booth.

By the time Niall gets his thoughts together to follow her, she’s down the hallway in one of the stores. He sighs and grabs the photos that spit out. He pulls them up to his face as he inspects them. The first full set is all of them making out, huge smiles plastered on both of their faces. The second starts out that way, but he can’t stop himself from staring at the last frame. The fear he saw in her face memorialized in film, showing anyone who could look at it that she’s scared. He realizes that she’s probably scared of him hurting her again.

That picture is more intimate than any of the ones of them making out. Niall pulls out his wallet and slips the two strips of photos inside before rushing to meet up with Penelope to grab some snacks.


	5. Chapter 5

Once they get back to Chicago, Niall wastes zero time once they’re on the subway, “your place?” He has a feeling this time will be different. This isn’t Atlanta, it isn’t just sex, it’s something new.

Penelope’s eyes meet his as she nods, “my place is perfect.” She knows that she can’t stay away from him. She thought her life was great without him, and it was, but having him around just makes her happier.

She’s still scared that he’ll change his mind again and she’ll be crushed like before. But Penelope is choosing to trust him, which is hard for her.

The trip back to her apartment is slow. Niall spends most of it rubbing his hand against hers. Penelope opens her palm and they hold hands in silence, both scared but letting it happen.

At their stop, Niall helps her with her luggage on the walk to her place. She tries to grab it from him, but he shakes his head. “Penelope, I’ve got it.” He hikes her two large suitcases, and his much smaller one, up her flight of stairs into her apartment.

Penelope takes the suitcases to her dirty laundry area to drop off. When she comes back, she sees Niall looking at the photos on her table. “Whatcha doing?” She asks, causing Niall to jump a bit.

He blushes as he backs away, “was just seeing what was important to you,” he admits, “and wondering how many of these moments I’d be included in if I wasn’t so stupid in college.”

Niall walks over to her and places his lips tenderly against hers. He can feel a question on them, waiting to be asked. “Niall…,” she starts and he pulls back and lets her ask, filling the room with the question that’s haunted her for years, “why did you break up with me then? What happened?!”

Penelope spent months after the breakup trying to figure out what she did wrong. Just a few days before, he was telling her that he would love her forever. She didn’t think it was possible for someone to decide to end a four year relationship overnight, but that’s what it had felt like.

Niall puts his forehead against her and sighs. His body is physically slouched as he recalls what had happened, “I didn’t have a job when we graduated… I didn’t want to mooch off you or make you stressed and have to support me. So when you got your job offer, I decided if I didn’t have something at graduation, I’d end things with you.”

Penelope’s mind starts reeling as she tries to remember when she got the job offer. It was pretty early into the semester. Around January, she believes. He didn’t break up with her until May. “Four months.” She deadpans and when she looks at him, her eyes are full of hate. “For FOUR MONTHS. You knew you’d break up with me?!”

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to….” Niall starts but Penelope cuts him off, “so it was a lie? All of it? Kissing me in the rain, telling me that you would love me forever. You knew the entire time you’d break up with me?”

“You don’t know what it was like!” Niall raises his voice at her for the first time. “It took me months to find a job here. I almost had to go back to Ireland, I survived on my parents sending me money every month, staying with Harry, and eating ramen noodles to survive! I didn’t want to put that pressure on you!”

“You should have given me a choice!” Penelope screams back at him. “Because you don’t know what it was like to have your heart ripped from your fucking chest.”

“I did.” Niall says but Penelope glares at him, “no, you don’t! I spent months depressed. I thought it was me, that there was something that made you decide in a few days you no longer wanted to be with me. But it was you! You broke me because of your own insecurities.”

“Penelope-“ Niall reaches out for her hand but she snatches it away, “i just wanted to be good enough for you.”

“Then why didn’t you contact me after you got the job then?!”

“You blocked me on everything! I had no idea how to get hold of you.”

“Get out.” Penelope says, not wanting to do this anymore. She doesn’t want to hear excuse after excuse of why he left her hurt for years.

“Penel-“ she cuts him off as she screams, “Leave! I mean it, Niall. Get out!”

“Whatever.” He returns as he leaves and slams her door. All of that is in the past, he doesn’t know why she’s even making it a big deal now.


	6. Chapter 6

Penelope spends most of the next few weeks trying to stay away from Niall as much as she can. She emails him things to do at night after they’ve left the office so he’ll stay busy the next day and won’t stop by to see her.

She’s also stopped going out with her friends almost entirely. She’s made up excuses and Amos teases her relentlessly about her having a beau and dropping them for some good dick.

Penelope knows it can’t last forever, but she wants it to last long enough that she can stop feeling upset over Niall. Today, she’s planning to stay in like usual when she gets a text from Ginger. “Babe please come tonight? Got big news I wanna share with the group.”

“Of course I’ll come,” she replies back without thinking. Ginger is one of her best friends and if she’s asking her to, she’ll brace seeing Niall for her.

She spends a bit of time doing her hair and makeup. Penelope at least wants Niall to see her and realize what he’s missing. She heads down to their usual Thirsty Thursday bar. The only space open is next to Niall, so she squeezes in, hoping it’s not too awkward.

“Oh so glad your boyfriend let you out of bed to come hang with us,” Amos jokes, only sounding a little jealous. Niall’s head snaps up, wondering if Amos knows something he doesn’t. Has she moved on from him already?

“Hah hah.” Penelope jokes, “Enough about my boyfriend, tell me the news Ginger!”

She smiles and looks at Klein. “Well… we’re getting married.”

“What?!” The other three people exclaim at once.

“I didn’t even know you two were dating,” Penelope argues and Ginger looks sheepish. “We wanted to keep it under wraps in case… things didn’t work out. But we’ve been seeing each other since the Christmas party. It’s just been so amazing that he asked me last night and I said yes!”

“Congrats…” Penelope tells her, a little struck by the fact that she didn’t suspect anything. Ginger’s her best friend and she’s been so preoccupied with her own stuff, she didn’t notice her friend had fallen in love enough to accept a marriage proposal.

“Come on, let me get us pizza?” Niall offers, “to celebrate!” Nobody is willing to turn down free pizza, so they head to the nearest place and climb into a booth and order. Niall opens his wallet to pull out some cash for the order.

He doesn’t immediately notice the pictures that have fallen out of his wallet, but Amos sure does. “Holy!!” He says, grabbing them and focusing on the ones with two of his friends caught in a heavy make out session. “Am I the only one in this group not getting any?”

Everyone looks at what he has in his hands and Niall and Penelope both blush. Niall doesn’t know why he kept them, but he just liked having them on him. He occasionally looked at them and would hope that one day he could prove to Penelope to get over her fear for him.

Penelope didn’t even know he had them. Sure, she knew some pictures had been taken since she paid to use the booth, but she didn’t think he grabbed them and certainly not that he had kept them.

Ginger hones in on the last one. The look on Penelope’s face says it all. That, coupled with her not showing up with them for weeks, tells her all she needs to know. Something went down and Penelope’s been hiding from it.

“Pen, can I talk to you?” Ginger asks and Penelope nods, feeling a bit like a schoolgirl who’s about to be reprimanded. “You like him?” She asks, once they’re on their own.

Penelope sighs and tells her everything. About them dating before, their time in Atlanta, the reason he dumped her. Ginger hugs her friend, “god that sounds terrible.” She can’t imagine having to go through that all alone. “But you know, what happened back then is back then. It sounds like he really likes you. I mean, he kept pictures of you in his wallet. He’s smitten, Pen.”

Pen bites her lip, “but what if…”

Ginger cuts her off, “look, I get it. I had the same thing with Klein. What if it doesn’t work out? What if he changes his mind once we’re together? What if he’s really just into the chase? But negative what if’s are just what ifs. If you let them hold you back, you’re not going to be able to see the what if it works out.”

Penelope sighs and leans against the door frame. She peers in at Niall who, at first, is oblivious to her. He’s blushing and rolling his eyes as she’s sure the guys are teasing him. He basically fights Amos for the pictures back and she sees him tuck them securely in his wallet before his eyes catch hers. The blush on his cheeks deepen as he realizes that she’s watched him put them back.

“I think you’re right.” She tells Ginger, who laughs and responds with, “i always am.”

The pair of girls join back with the boys just in time for the pizza. They all share and Amos is busy complaining about constantly being single when Ginger decides to help her friends out. “Man, I think we’re tired, Niall. I think it’s time we head home. All of us.”

Klein looks confused as he checks his watch. “It’s only 9.” She elbows him, “we should head home anyway.”

Ginger is not even subtle and they all know what she’s trying to do. It’s obvious to pretty much all of them that she’s trying to get Penelope and Niall to go talk. Penelope sighs and turns to him, “walk me home?”

Niall nods and tries to ignore the woop woops the boys are giving them as he leaves. “I’m sorry…” he starts as they walk, “I didn’t mean for anyone to see the pictures.”

“Why did you keep them?” Penelope asks him as her eyes are trained down at her feet. She wants to hear that she’s special to him, to give her strength to take the chance.

“I never thought I’d see you again. When I caught sight of you my first day, I felt like it was a miracle to even be able to see you daily. I never imagined you would get to the point where anything in Atlanta would happen. I could tell you were scared from the pictures. I kept it to remind myself that you were running because you were scared I’d hurt you again. I hoped one day we could get back to there and I could prove that I’m not going to run again. You’re the only girl for me, Penelope. I mean that.”

Penelope stops and turns to him. Her lips meet his and, despite her nerves, she can’t stop herself from smiling as she decides to take the chance. “You can call me Pen.”


End file.
